Hi RBBI, the statement from the other poster is in itself a microcosm of the problem with the Masoretic text, which is, the unregenerate man inserting his own spirit of the world into the letter of the text. If such a one does this with Greek, which has vowels, what will the same do with ancient Hebrew which had no vowels? The unregenerate Masoretes inserted their own spirit into the "block letters" of the Hebrew text when they added the vowel pointing; and by the resulting text they have revealed themselves as not having been true Jews while at the same time destroying themselves and their own people for rejecting Messiah Yeshua and his Testimony. That is why when the Masoretic Hebrew Text is rendered into English, for the most part, the Father comes across sounding like an angry and vengeful ogre. The Testimony of Yeshua is the only Spirit, (approved and sealed by the Father from above) which correctly interprets the ancient Hebrew Scripture. One is therefore better off to trust the Septuagint, which is quoted extensively in the Gospel accounts and Apostolic writings, and which came from the ancient Hebrew text before it had vowel pointing added by the Masoretes, (the current Masorete Text came a thousand to twelve hundred years later). The ancient Hebrew text was translated into the Greek Septuagint some two to three hundred years before the ministry of Yeshua, (270-240BCE concerning the Torah portions) and therefore the Levite priests, scribes, and Jews, who rendered the Hebrew text into the Greek Septuagint, had neither an agenda nor an axe to grind concerning Yeshua and the first century congregation of the faithful at Yerushalem because they did their work some two to three hundred years before the advent of Messiah. Likewise, in the time of Paul, the Hebrew writings did not have vowels, vowel pointing, or cantillation markings, (ancient Biblical Hebrew is probably the "tongue of angels" of which Paul writes in 1Cor 13:1). The "letter kills" for the same reason, (but not only this reason) because if one attempts to read "the letter" without having the Spirit of the Testimony of Messiah Yeshua then the same has no choice but to input the vowel from somewhere: and the vowels are the Spirit flowing through the "block" letters. Thus, if one does not receive, confess, and uphold the full Testimony of Yeshua, the same cannot understand what is written in the ancient Hebrew text; and the same therefore must insert his or her own spirit, the unregenerate spirit of the flesh-minded man, which is the spirit of the world. The same happened with "Hebrew Matthew" when the unregenerate "church fathers" rendered it into Greek accoring to the mind of the flesh and destroyed the Hebrew manuscripts which they confess were in their possession.
